


Hero Complex

by funkyfroggs



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Auror Harry Potter, Conflict Resolution, Domestic Fluff, Draco is a darling, Fights, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hero Complex, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Potions Master Draco Malfoy, They really just love eachother huh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:33:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22823350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/funkyfroggs/pseuds/funkyfroggs
Summary: Draco, the current potions master and Harry, who has just been injured while on an Auror mission have a fight about Harry's well-being.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy & Ron Weasley, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Harry Potter & Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom & Draco Malfoy
Comments: 5
Kudos: 187





	Hero Complex

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This wasn't beta'd so if you find any mistakes or stuff feel free to point them out :)  
> Hope you like it, I just really wanted to write Draco as the caring boy he is 🥺😡

“Draco, stop-” Harry hurried after his partner down the long and empty Hogwarts hallway, struggling to catch up due to his swollen ankle.

“No!” Draco’s voice rang from where Harry couldn’t see. 

Harry sped up and turned towards where Draco was heading, which was presumably his chambers. If Harry thought about their fights turning into long chases through Hogwarts after Draco had gotten himself a job as the new Potions master, he would’ve protested more.

“You... Have no right to speak to me right now.” Draco’s voice got more shaky with every word, it was like Harry could see every quiver of the man’s lips as ke spoke. It tore him in half.

“Look, can you at least slow down, I have a sprained ankle for Merlin’s sake-”

Draco was visible to Harry now, as well as were his hands, thrown in the air in frustration.

“Right. And whose fault was that again?”

“It’s just a sprain, Draco I don’t know what you’re so pissed about!”

At that, Draco spun around to face harry, nose red and blotchy from what looked like holding back tears. His eyes were wide and furious. Harry stopped in his tracks, they were now a few dozen meters apart.

“Really. You don’t know. Classic.”

“I really don’t, what’s such a big deal! Other Aurors get injuries way worse all the time.”

“Yes! They do! But other Aurors haven’t talked to their significant others about just how much they don’t like being Aurors!”

Harry crossed his arms with furrowed brows, keeping his gaze low. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“By the amount to things you don’t know, I’m surprised you know anything at all.” Draco thought bitterly, sniffing.

“That was unnecessary.”

“Oh and this,” He gestured towards Harry’s wrapped ankle, “was?! Seriously, Potter, could you be any more of a bell-end?”

“Don’t you ‘Potter’ me,” Harry pointed at his significant other, whose voice was now audibly strained.

“I’ll ‘Potter’ you whenever I want, Potter.” The last name was thrown out bitterly. 

A beat of silence. Then, a sniffle. And another. A stifled sob. 

Draco’s hands were covering his face and he was sobbing, quietly. Wiping the tears with his robes, he didn’t care about snot or stains. He could charm them away later, anyways.

Harry’s own eyes watered as he took a step forward. He was stopped, though. Stopped by one, long, pale finger extended in his general direction and a weak, shaky breath.

“Stop.” Harry stopped.

Draco was always held back, always putting on a mask everywhere but in front of their friends and each other. So seeing him completely break down in an, even if, empty, hallway was unusual to say the least. Harry felt awful.

“Just... Stop. Leave. Leave me alone and figure your shit out, Potter. I’m sick and tired of this.”

“Draco-”

“Stop! Go and leave me alone!”

Draco spun around again and took off.

“Don’t you d- Get back here now, Malfoy!” Harry hated the bitterness of his words as soon as they rolled off his tongue.

Once Draco wasn’t visible anymore, not paying attention to a word leaving Harry’s mouth, Harry let his own tears fall. They were small, single teardrops, dropping to the floor at the beginning. Then, they turned into thick tear trails running down his cheeks. Harry sobbed quietly, wiping at his eyes furiously.

“.. Fuck.” 

\--------------------------------------

Draco was a blubbering, snivelling, whimpering mess as he spoke - or rather tried to speak - to Ron on the phone. It was weird, the bond of trust that formed between the two throughout his and Harry’s relationship. But now it was one of the strongest bonds he was part of and he was so grateful for it. 

Another thing he was also grateful for was Ron not waking up hermione when he received the call. The last thing he needed to deal with now were grumpy responses of a rudely woken up pregnant lady. He loved Hermione from the bottom of his heart, really, but he’d rather not willingly jump into lava.

“And we talked about this exact thing and not just once, that’s the problem! And now, he’s- he’s acting like a total dickhead about it, he doesn’t even want to acknowledge it!”

“And what did you do?” It was apparent Ron was tired, seeing as how he spoke through a yawn.

“I sent him home. I told him he needs to get his shit together and decide what he wants to do from here on. I told him I was tired of the bullshit.”

“You sent him home ‘cause of a sprained ankle? I dunno about you but that seems a bit extreme, Mate...”

“It’s more than just a sprained ankle. It’s the fact that he doesn’t even care about how I feel anymore, yet alone his own self. You should’ve seen him, Ron he doesn’t care about himself anymore.”

There was a beat of silence on the other end. Ron was thinking of a response.

“Look, Mate I don’t... know what conversation you two had which threw you off so much but I know that Harry’s stubborn as a bloody mule. I think both of you need some time apart. To think things over. In the meantime, you have Hermione and I’s numbers and I’m encouraging you to use them whenever you need to. And give yourselves some time. Alright?”

Draco fiddled with his fingers. 

“Yea. Alright. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Mate. Good night.”

“Night.”

Draco didn’t sleep through the night. Since Harry didn’t work at Hogwarts and couldn’t live there with Draco anyways, it’s not like the problem was an empty bed. Even if that did feel even emptier now that they were actively fighting. The problem was their conversation from only a few nights ago running through his head on loop.

\--------------------------------------

It was when Harry sneaked into his chambers as a surprise. Except, he sneaked in with a fresh cut on his lip and brow. 

As Draco was cleaning his cuts, even if they were, according to Harry, already treated, he kept sighing, until, finally, he said;

“I can’t take this anymore.”

Harry raised a brow.

“This,” Draco gestured at Harry’s Auror robes, “-and the constant bruises and injuries that come with it and the fact I never know where you are and...and if youre safe or- or if you’re hurt badly and I hate it and it’s bollocks.”

Draco’s eyes watered and he tried blinking it away.

“And it’s not even like you have to do it. You choose to get yourself in these situations, day after day and I fucking hate you for it! I don’t want to, but I do!” Draco was now standing, walking in a smal circle. “I just don’t understand. Why? It’s not like it’s for money... Do you just like it? I wont believe you if you say so. Aren’t you tired of acting like you owe everyone this big favour, like you always need to be everyone’s saviour?”

Harry was looking at his hands in his lap.

“It’s not like I’m a fan, Draco.”

“Then, why? Why go through so much trouble every day?”

“I don’t want to talk about this-”

“Too fucking bad, we have to. I have to.”

Harry sighed, lowering his head again. Draco sat on the sofa next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder, tentatively.

“Why do you hurt yourself like this?”

After a beat, Harry spoke.

“It’s not my bloody choice, now is it?” He sounded bitter. Draco couldn’t see his expression so he wasn’t sure if he should remove his hand or keep it on Harry’s shoulder, potentially squeezing or moving it in comfort. “It wasn’t my choice when I was eleven and it isn’t my choice now.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“It means,” Harry looked up to meet his partner’s eyes. His were red-rimmed and glazed over. “-that there’s always going to be new bad guys and new evil and new challenges and I’ll always have to take care of it cause who the bloody hell else, right? It’s not like we have millions of Aurors more than capable and ready to fight, no no nooo, it’s always up to little wonder boy, oh yeah, let’s just send him out for everything, it’s not like everytime he sees a dead body he sees Cedric and Fred and Tonks and Remus and Sirius,” His voice was more bitter and resentful with every name, ”-just because his brain is stupid and it’s not like he had a whole army he had to defeat before he was even legal and has surely done his time, it’s not like he hates doing everything associated with his job because he’d much rather be safe with his husband, oh no, lets make him keep doing dangerous shit and lets keep needing him for no bloody reason!” Along with his voice he raised his head. “So yeah, I think you’ll find it funny that it’s not my bloody choice!”

Harry was crying. Silently. 

“Fuck!” Harry stood up and wiped at his face. Draco sat still. “Fuck... I didn’t mean to yell. I’m sorry. Some surprise this is, huh?” He laughed bitterly.

Draco stood up, placing his hands on Harry’s shoulders.

“You need to quit the Aurors, Harry.” Just as Harry wanted to start protesting, Draco squeezed at his shoulders. “You’re not okay, Harry. You should see a mind healer.” Harry winced at that. “Please Harry. You need to understand you owe nothing to anyone. Anyone. And I don’t know how to help you. I’m just,” He placed a hand on Harry’s cheek. He was starting to get gruffy. “-I’m sorry that you feel like you do. And I love you and want what’s best for you.”

“I know.” Harry said, rather weakly. “I love you too. But I don’t know what to do.”

“Quit the Aurors. Go see a mind healer. Stop hurting yourself, even if indirectly.” 

When Harry tried to tear his gaze away from Draco’s, the latter guided it back.

“If not for you, do it for me. Please Harry. I can’t stand this anymore. And I can’t stand the feeling of the hopeless maiden that can’t do anything but stand by and watch as you break yourself apart bit by bit. It’s not healthy, for either of us and I wont stand it any longer.”

Harry buried his head into Draco’s neck. His shoulders shook as he wept in silence.

“It’s alright. It’s ok love.”

\--------------------------------------

Unlike Draco, whose first thought was to call Ron, Harry spent the night alone in his and Draco’s house. As soon as he came home, he took off his Auror robes and lied onto his now-empty bed. It was so terribly empty.

One less known fact about Harry was his hatred of the cold. And yet the biting January climate did nothing to make him feel better. He lit a fire in the fireplace, he put on thick clothes, he ducked under layers of thick wooled blankets and nothing helped his shaking.

To be fair, the shaking wasn’t connected only to the cold. He sure did want it to be, though. HIs eyes burned from holding back tears and once he couldn’t anymore he sobbed. He sobbed the night away, cursing himself and himself only. The next morning, he skipped work. 

Instead, he wasted his time watching the sun and clouds move through the window from his bed. He didn’t move apart from going to the loo. 

Somewhere around five in the afternoon he heard someone enter. He groaned, pulling up the dozens of blankets. Honestly, he didn’t even care if he was being robbed. It was probably either Ron or Hermione, anyways. They had a spare key.

“Jesus, Mate... “

It was Ron.

Harry peaked up from under the dozens of blankets. Ron noticed how red his eyes were.

“Scoot.” He said, gesturing to the bed.

Harry sat up against the headboard and moved to one of the sides. Draco’s side. Ron took a seat next to him.  
“So Draco-”

“You talked to him? What did he say? How is he? Is he bad?”

Ron sent Harry an unimpressed look.

“I’m not telling you anything. But we did talk and yes, it was about you two.” When Harry didn’t say anything, Ron continued. “Don’t you want to enlighten me?”

“Didn’t Draco do that already?”

“Look, I’m on your side. And on Draco’s. But I can’t just only take one side into perspective.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Harry sniffed, his gaze on his hands. “I’m the fuck up in this anyways,” He smiled bitterly.

“The fact you acknowledge that you did anything wrong at all is better than nothing. But that doesn’t mean that you’re a fuck up.”

“Well what else do you call someone who fucked up majorly?”

“A person?”

“Wow, a philosopher now, are you.”

“Harry, fucking up is normal. I do it all the time”

Harry threw his hands in the air in frustration. 

“Yeah, but I’m not. It’s different for me, I’m not supposed to fuck up! Why does nobody get that?”

“Yeah and who told you that?”

“It’s implied!”

“By who?!”

“I don’t know! It just is that way! I can’t...” Harry wiped away a tear. “I can’t explain it.”

Ron pulled Harry in for a hug, hand moving in comforting circles on the latter’s back.

After a moment Harry spoke again; “Draco said I should see a mind healer.”

“I think so too,” Ron replied, moving to sit across from harry again.

“Really?”

“I think it can only do you good, Mate. I’m actually surprised you haven’t gone to see one before. It helped me a ton after Fred.”

Harry’s eyes narrowed. 

“You have a mind healer? How is it?”

“Yea, Hermione’s got one, too. I dunno, I guess it’s like a diary that talks back... Not in the,, creepy Tom Riddle way though.”

Harry chuckled. 

“You really think I should try it?”

“Yeah. I think it’ll help you.”

\--------------------------------------

It’s about two weeks later that Draco calls Harry via phone. They haven’t communicated at all up until Draco’s call, leaving Harry’s phone tragically devoid of messages.

Harry, just in the middle of making himself some instant ramen for dinner, hurried at the sound of his phone in the living room. At the sight of Draco’s name displayed on his screen, his breath hitches. He carefully picks up.

There’s silence on both sides. None of them know what to say.

“...Hi.” Harry lets out. That’s a start.

“Hi.”

There’s some more silence. It feels like an elephant in heels. Very awkward.

“I’m free this Saturday. So, Tomorrow.”

“Alright.” Harry didn’t know what to say. He was, to say the least, terribly nervous.

“Are you free? Or, are you, you know, on duty.” The words were spoken with such vigor, Harry shivered.

“I’m not... Working anymore.”

That punched the air out of the blond.

“Oh. Alright. See you tomorrow then? By the gates? At five?”

“Yeah.”

“Love you,” Draco breathed, like he couldn’t not say it.

“Love you too. Bye.”

Harry ended the call, throwing his phone on the couch. He ran his hands through his locks of hair, sighing.

\--------------------------------------

On the other side, Draco was freaking out just as much.

Sitting behind his desk, his head in his hands, Draco could not get past the ‘I love you’s for a few solid minutes. He felt jittery all over, stupidly so.

His teenage-like jitteriness, however, was broken by Neville - who worked at Hogwarts as the Herbology professor and would oftenly walk to supper with Draco - knocking on the door.

“Ready for supper, Draco?”

“Yeah, no, yeah I’ll just... Yeah.” He stood from his desk awkwardly, following Neville in silence.

“You’re redder than usual. Did you talk to Harry?”

“How did you-”

Neville smirked. 

“I won’t ask. I’m glad you're speaking though.”

And just like that they arrived, ate in silence and walked back discussing puny and irrelevant things like how classes are going and what students give them the most trouble.

Draco’s night was barely slept through, due to his inevitable overthinking. 

\--------------------------------------

Harry’s nose was blood red. He was scrubbing his gloved hands together viciously which did nothing, just like the extra pair of socks, the bulky jacket and thick scarf which only helped fog up his glasses. Safe to say, he was freezing.

He didn’t even notice Draco through the fogged glass until he pulled his glasses down to wipe them clean.

Harry’s breath caught in his throat. He didn’t feel cold anymore. Instead, he felt hot all over.

“Hi.” Draco’s voice was gentle, careful.

They moved like two magnets towards each other, until they were holding each other close, gently. Draco’s hand was in Harry’s hair, eyes closed in content. Harry’s hands were grabbing at Draco’s shoulder blades through his thick, but fancy robes.

“I missed you,” Draco breathed into the air behind Harry’s ear.

Harry nodded into Draco’s neck.

Draco gave Harry another squeeze before letting go. He took a look at Harry’s ever.so shabby beard and squinted.

“You’re looking shabby. What’s up with that?”

“Couldn’t find the shaver.” 

“Did you check behind the shampoo in the cupboard above the sink?” Draco raised a brow.

“..No.”

Draco sighed dramatically. 

“Honestly, Potter can’t even survive two weeks without me...” Draco, despite the words sounded fond.

Harry smiled to himself.

“So what now?”

“Figured we could go for a walk. Then talk a bit.”

“Yea, that... sounds good.”

They didn’t begin walking before Draco put a warming charm on Harry. 

The walk wasn’t long before they ran into some benches covered in snow. Harry spelled the snow away and they sat down.

“So. You said you’re not working?” Draco asked carefully. 

“I thought about everything that was said. I thought about you and me and I thought about what I want to do. I never wanted to be a bloody Auror...”

Draco scoffed softly.

“I wrote a letter, explaining I will no longer be apart of any Auror activity ever again and that was that.”

Draco placed a hand on one of Harry’s.

“That’s good. I’m glad you did that.”

“Feels weird though.”

“I’d bet.” Draco sent the other a supportive smile.

“I just had my first mind healer appointment yesterday.”

Draco’s eyes widened.

“Really?” 

Harry nodded. 

“It felt a little weird, but she said it will for a while at least. I’m going to give it a shot, I think.”

Draco’s hug was sudden, and tight. His head was buried in Harry’s scarf.

“Thank you,” Draco sniffed.

“Woah, are you alright?”

Draco sat back, wiping his eyes.

“Yeah, no sorry I’m- I’m just happy is all.” Draco sniffed.

“This means so much to you?” Harry asks, running his hands up and down his husband’s upper arms. Said husband in response to the question hits at Harry’s chest with the back of his hand.

“Of course, you idiot, you’re my bloody husband!” Draco exclaimed before burying his head in The purple scarf again.

\--------------------------------------

“You know, I think I might apply for the DADA professor position this summer.” Harry says only a few minutes of silence later.

Draco sits back with a smile to have a better look at the brunette’s face. 

“Really?”

“Well, you know, I’d be able to be here, near you, I wouldn’t be enforcing my problematic hero complex on a day to day basis and I’d be doing something I actually want to do...”

Draco bit his lip, before gently guiding Harry’s face closer to his own with his hand. He pulled Harry in for a gentle kiss, smiling from ear to ear.

“What’s that grin about?”

“Nothing. I’m happy.” Draco leaned on the other’s shoulder.

Harry played with his husband’s hair. 

“Me too.”


End file.
